Today on our blog we have a Q & A with writer Martha Lane, who will be leading a zoom workshop for us in February – The Age of Innocence. We all love to tell tales of strife, of heartbreak, and of conflict. We look for those inner truths of adult lives to make our stories feel meaningful and reflective. Join Martha Lane as she makes you look at these same stories through the eyes of a child narrator. How can a narrator with limited understanding of the world affect the stories you tell? Can it add humour? Or perhaps a deeper level of poignancy? Lots to explore as we take a wide-eyed look at the world of grown ups. BUY TICKETS HERE.
What made you choose this particular topic for your session?
Because I write for both adults and children the lines between the two sometimes blur and I really enjoy using a child’s perspective to filter the adult world.
What do you hope participants will get out of it?
I hope participants go away with a new idea they’re really excited about.
Do you have a favourite piece of writing that reflects this topic? Either your own or someone else’s.
I absolutely love the novel I’m Not Scared by Niccolò Ammaniti which was the first adult novel I ever read in a child’s POV and it really stuck with me. In fact, quite a few of my favourite novels are written this way; To Kill a Mockingbird, Life of Pi, The Book Thief, The Kite Runner.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m working on a Northern coming of age novel at the minute. Where all those lines between childhood and adulthood blur then come into focus.
Where can we find out more about you and your writing?
Most of my published stories can be found on my website, http://marthalane.co.uk
Martha Lane is a prose writer living in the blustery North East. She writes about class, nature, grief and all things unrequited, her flash fiction has been widely published and most of her stories can be found online at marthalane.co.uk. She often writes from the perspective of children, prehaps because she has two of her own (an endless source of inspiration when they aren’t squabbling over the TV remote).